Monkey business: Hyundai's new family hatchback was put to the ultimate test at Knowsley Safari Park, in Merseyside, where the baboons are well known for mobbing visitors' motors

They press all the buttons, try to open the windows, then drop their lunch down every crevice in the upholstery.

And that’s just the kids when you take them for a drive in the car.

So what better way to test the durability of a brand new family saloon than to leave it at the mercy of a troop of cheeky little monkeys?

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I like driving in my car: Designers wanted to see if the extra-strong materials interior materials and wipe-clean plastics would withstand 10 hours of rough handling

That is precisely what Korean car maker Hyundai did when it wanted to discover how its new i30 hatchback would withstand the ordeal of so many inquisitive minds, prying fingers and sticky paw marks. Not to mention the unmentionable from a species never noted for potty-training.

At one stage there were 40 baboons road-testing the car, jumping up and down on the seats and clambering through the ‘panoramic ambience’ (Hyundai’s phrase) of the sliding glass roof.

About the only difference between the primates and their counterpart human rascals was that the one in the back never asked: ‘Are we nearly there yet?’

Baboons at Knowsley Safari Park in Merseyside are no strangers to ripping apart family cars but are actually highly intelligent.

Time to play: As soon as it was left unattended in the ape enclosure dozens rushed to clamber all over their new toy - the monkeys also managed to pull off part of a door seal but this was easily pushed back in to place

Exploring: Some pushed and prodded interior buttons while others played with the storage bins. They even experimented with the car’s cupholders, using plastic drinking beakers they had been given

Can't catch me: Normally the monkey's can't touch a car aerial, so this one grabs the chance with both hands

I like driving in my car: Designers wanted to see if the extra-strong materials interior materials and wipe-clean plastics would withstand 10 hours of rough handling

The automotive monkey-business was inspired by another great mind – Wayne Rooney – whose £80,000 Audi was damaged by the mob when the footballer visited the park last year.

The Hyundai was handed over to the troop for ten hours and left unattended.

Designers wanted to see how the finish would stand up to the kind of punishment the average child might inflict during the car’s lifetime.

Dozens of the animals colonised it from the moment it was driven into their enclosure.

Helping hand: Now Hyundai hopes the lessons learnt from the monkey test will help future research and development

Happy monkeys: David Ross, from the park, said the baboons loved playing with the car. 'For a baboon to have a car to play with for the whole day is manna from heaven. These baboons are incredibly inquisitive,' he said

After the challenge: Hyundai's new family hatchback after the test at Knowsley Safari Park, where the baboons are well known for mobbing visitors' motors

Result: a few scrapes, lots of smears and finger marks, a dislodged rubber door seal that was rejected as a snack, plus some tooth marks in the steering wheel. The good news: no one stole the alloys.

‘Safari park monkeys are particularly good at discovering weak points on cars and then pulling, prodding and tearing at the parts until they break,’ said Hyundai project manager Felicity Wood.

The park’s general manager David Ross said the baboons, which can weigh up to 66lb, ‘thoroughly enjoyed’ the experiment.

He added: ‘For a baboon to have a car to play with for the whole day is manna from heaven.’

WAG monkey attack: Last year Coleen Rooney posted a picture on Twitter of one of the cheeky apes pulling at a windscreen wiper on footballer husband Wayne’s £80,000 Audi